Tips to avoiding bumps while removing hair.

Every other week, I pull out my tweezers and get to work on my facial hairs. Once upon a time, I used to dread touching them because I had heard such a lot about hairs.

“Don’t shave them, they’ll come back with a vengeance” (I wonder why this doesn’t apply to the hair on the head or under the arm)

“Don’t use razors, it’ll give you bumps”

“Use shaving sticks only”. And so on.

And I believed what I heard because most times I would have unsightly bumps under my arms and around my neck. Fortunately, those days are long gone.

What do I do differently? I avoid the following:

Shaving cold; I try to warm up the part to be shaved. For my face and under arm, I either use a warm towel directly or stand under a warm shower for a few minutes. This opens up the pores, softens the area and makes the process an effortless one.

Don’t ask me how I warm up ‘down below’. Use your discretion!!!😝

Not using a cream; Honestly, I don’t do this often, because some of the hair removing creams I know smell so awful and I end up looking like an Egyptian mummy especially when I want to shave my legs and arms. But when I do, I prefer to use my cleanser, yes, it’s creamy and alcohol-free and smells great too.

Shaving in any direction; This is the major culprit when removing hair from the body. When tweezing, hold the skin taut, grab the errant hair with the tweezers and pull in the direction of hair growth. Same applies with razors and shaving sticks. If you don’t do it this way, you run the risk of having in-grown hair (growing back into the skin instead of outwards) which causes bumps and/ or infection and eventually scars or keloids.

So, when next you are removing body hair, observe the pattern of growth and follow suit. For under the arm, go radial from the centre (upwards, downwards and outwards from the centre)

Not moisturizing; Moisturizing after removing hair is very important. Your skin has gone through some form of trauma and it needs to be soothed. Alcohol-based products should be avoided after shaving because they sting (if you have cuts, which you most probably will) and they dry up and dehydrate the area.

Your goal is to first seal your pores by applying water as cold as you can bear, then the next is to make sure any cuts you have heal very quick to avoid infections. Aloe Vera-based products work well here, and it helps to keep your skin hydrated and supple.

Do you have facial hair? How do you avoid bumps while keeping your skin hair-free? Let me know in the comment section below.